LGBT media advocacy group GLAAD on
Tuesday announced that it will honor director Roland Emmerich at next
month's GLAAD Media Awards.

Emmerich will receive the group's
Stephen F. Kolzak Award, which is presented to an openly LGBT media
professional who has made a significant difference in promoting
equality, at its 26th annual event in Los Angeles.

The 59-year-old German director's films
have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide. He is best known for
such blockbuster films as Independence Day and The Day
After Tomorrow. His upcoming film Stonewall stars Jeremy
Irvine as a young man who is politically awakened by the Stonewall
Inn riots of 1969.

“As one of Hollywood’s most
sought-after film directors, Roland Emmerich has entertained
audiences across the globe,” GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate
Ellis said in a statement. “His generosity has touched the lives
of countless LGBT people, bringing shelter to homeless youth and
preserving culture-changing stories that help close the gap to full
acceptance. Now, with the upcoming release of Stonewall,
millions of moviegoers all across the world will see the harms of
anti-LGBT discrimination and learn about the historic riots that
forever changed equality in America.”